Mobile home



June 23, 1970 H. H. GIESSLER 3,516,705

MOB ILE HOME Filed May 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HENRY H. G/ESSLER June 23, 1970 H. H. GIESSLER 3,516,705

MOBILE HOME -Filed May 22, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HENRY H. G/ESSLER BY we; z WFQ'WJT ATT'YS.

United States Patent 3,516,705 MOBILE HOME Henry H. Giessler, 3618 W. State Blvd., Fort Wayne, Ind. 46808 Filed May 22, 1968, Ser. No. 731,085 Int. Cl- B60p 3/32 US. Cl. 296--23 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mobile home which has partitions dividing the intenor of the same into a plurality of rooms including a hallway and a furnace room located on the perimeter or outside wall of the home and separate from the rooms constituting the living quarters, which furnace room is of a size sufficient to accommodate an oil fired furnace or other heating unit, and a water heater, with the furnacev room having a door or panel closed opening in an exterior wall through which access to the heating unit may be had and a door or panel closed opening in an oppositely disposed interior wall which will provide access for servicing the water heater.

This invention relates to mobile home construction and is more particularly concerned with improvements in the arrangement of the interior thereof so as to make adequate provision for a furnace or other heating equipment, water heater and other equipment.

In mobile home constructions heretofore provided it has been the practice to install a furnace or other space heating equipment in an alcove, compartment or recessed area, which has not been separated from the living quarters, so that there is considerable fire hazard and no adequate provision for elimination of odors resulting from the consumption of fuel or its presence and most often leaving the equipment accessible from the interior of the home with resultant hazards from mischievous children and careless adults. Frequently because of the desire to conserve space, the furnace and the water heater which are generally included in mobile home equipment have been placed in confined quarters where servicing and maintenance are made extremely difiicult. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a mobile home wherein adequate provision is made for accommodating a furnace or other heating equipment, the usual water heater, and preferably other equipment, so as to isolate the same from the living quarters, thereby reducing the fire hazard and facilitating servicing and repair operations when required, and to confine such dirt and odors therefrom in this area rather than within the living quarters of the mobile home.

A general object of the invention is to provide a mobile home in which the interior is divided by partition structures so as to provide a room which is separated from the living quarters in which a space heater and other equipment may be accommodated with greater safety and convenience than heretofore.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a mobile home construction in which the interior thereof is divided by partition structures so as to provide a separate room, adequately insulated and isolated from the adjoining rooms which form the living quarters and of sufiicient size to accommodate a furnace or other heating equipment and a water heater, and any other equipment which can be conveniently located therein, so as to reduce fire and accident hazards within the home and provide for more ready access to such equipment for servicing and repair.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a mobile home an interior wall structure which divides the 3,516,705 Patented June 23, 1970 "ice same into rooms including a furnace room separated from the living quarters and adapted to accommodate a furnace or other heating equipment and a water heater with an exterior door or the like providing access to the heating equipment for servicing and repair and with an opening in the oppositely disposed interior partition wall having a door or removable panel which provides access to the water heater for the same purpose.

These and other objects and advantages'of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the mobile home structure which is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mobile home which incorporates therein the principal features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial horizontal section or fioor plan illustrating the arrangement of interior partitions which divide the home into rooms constituting living quarters and a separate furnace room with access to the latter from the exterior of the 'home;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3, to an enlarged scale; and

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section or floor plan similar to FIG. 2 showing a modified arrangement of the furnace room.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1, a trailer type mobile home 10 which has embodied therein an interior construction and arrangement which is in accordance with the principles of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2 the interior space is divided by vertical partitions into a hallway 11 running along an exterior wall 12 at one side of the home and a furnace room 14 separatnig room forming areas 15 and 16, the latter constituting part of the living quarters which may comprise additional room areas not shown on FIG. 2. A transverse hallway 17 extends from an opening 18 in the inner vertical partition wall 20, which forms with the exterior wall 12, the hallway 11, a sufiicient distance to permit access to the rooms 15 and 16 through the doorway openings 21 and 22. Vertical partition walls 23 and 24 separate the furnace room 14 from the two adjoining room areas 15 and 16.

The furnace room 14 is of size to accommodate a furnace or other heating equipment such as, for example, an oil fired, or gas fired furnace 25 together with a water heating unit 26 which in the arrangement shown is positioned inwardly of or in back of the furnace 25 in a compartment 27. The furnace or heating unit 25 is provided with a vent or flue pipe 28 which extends through a suitable opening in the top or ceiling wall 30 of the home. A hot air plenum 31 extends at the base of the furnace 25 into the fioor or bottom wall 32 of the home and connects with a hot air duct 33 having suitable outlets (not shown) in the rooms or areas which it is desired to supply heat.

The hot water heater 26 is generally of lesser height than the furnace 25 and the inside wall of the furnace compartment14 which is indicated at 34 may be constructed as shown in FIG. 3 so as to provide the required compartment or space 27 for the same, resulting in a shelf 35 for storage which is accessible fro-m the hall area 17. The bottom portion of the wall 34 is located some distance inwardly from the vertical partition wall 35 with the intervening space 36 available for storage. An opening 37 in the wall 34 provides access to the hot Water heater 26 for servicing and repair. A door or removable panel 38 forms a closure for the opening 37 which may have a ventillating grill 38'. The hot water heater is preferably disposed on a bottom support 39 which is pan-like in form or which results in a border type 3 enclosure and which has a drain tube 40 extending through a suitable aperture in the bottom floor 32 so as to provide drainage for any water and avoid flooding of the compartment 14 in the event any leakage occurs in the hot water heater 26 or connections thereto. The top portion of the furnace room 14, indicated at 41 in FIG. 3, is utilized as a cold air return duct with an opening 42 into the hallway space 17 in which there is mounted an air filter 43 and an exterior grill 44, the latter being preferably of a decorative character. The exterior wall 45, to which the furnace room 14 extends, has an opening 46 with a door or removable panel 47 so as to provide for access to the furnace 25 and water softener -0 from the outside of the home to facilitate servicing and repair. Preferably, the furnace room 14 is of suflicient size to accommodate a waste outlet 48, a water inlet 49 and a Water softener unit 50, the latter being frequently provided as desirable equipment in a mobile home. The room 14 may also accommodate the electrical circuit outlet box which is indicated at 51 so as to locate this in an area where it is accessible to an authorized person, but not to others, such as, children playing inside the home.

The outside walls of the home may be of typical construction with a suitable exterior paneling, an interior paneling with reflective sheeting or the like forming a vapor barrier, and insulating material between the studs or other framing members. The interior vertical partitions separating the furnace room 14 from the living space or adjoining rooms, preferably, are constructed as shown in FIG. 4. The entire furnace room 14 is lined, ex-

41, with an asbestos board or sheeting 52, or similar fire resistant material, so as to reduce the chances of any.

fire which may start in the furnace room spreading to the rest of the home. The other side of the partition walls may be covered with asphalt sheeting 53 or other vapor barrier material and a finishing panel material 54 of any desired character. The space between the vertical studs 55 may be filled with an insulating material 56, preferably of a fire resistant and sound absorbing character.

The door or closure panel 47 for the exterior opening may have the same construction as the adjoining wall and the door closure panel 38 for the opening 37 in the wall 34 which provides access to the compartment 27 in which the hot water heater 26 is housed, preferably, has the same construction as the partition wall illustrated in FIG. 4.

A modified floor plan is illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein the furnace room 14' is dimensioned so that the furnace 25 and the hot water heater 26' are in side-by-side relation with the exterior access opening 46' and door 47' providing access to the furnace 25", water softener '50 and the interior opening 37' and closure panel 38' providing access to the hot water heater 26'. -In this arrangement, the waste outlet 48', water supply inlet 49' and water softening unit 50' may be located adjacent the exterior wall 45', as shown. The construction and arrangement of the furnace room 14 is otherwise the same as illustrated in FIG. 2 and corresponding elements are indicated by the same numerals primed.

Wlhile particular materials and specific structural details have been referred to in describing the forms of the invention which are illustrated, it will be understood that other materials and different structural details of 4 an equivalent nature may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A mobile home having partition walls dividing the interior thereof into a hallway and a plurality of rooms, one of said rooms being located adjacent an outside wall of the home and constituting a furnace room of relatively small size, said furnace room being separated by partition Walls from the adjoining rooms which constitute the living quarters, said furnace room having sufiicient space to receive a furnace unit, a water heating unit, and other desirable utility equipment, said furnace room having an opening in said exterior wall with a readily removable closure so as to provide ready access to the furnace room from the outside of the home for repair or replacement, said furnace room being insulated from the adjoining rooms by fire resistant material in the partition walls surrounding said furnace room, an inside partition wall of said furnace room having an opening providing access to the space provided for said water heating unit from the interior of the home so as to facilitate repair of a water heating unit when disposed in said space and a readily removable closure for said opening.

2. A mobile home having vertically disposed interior partition walls arranged to divide the same into rooms which form living quarters and a furnace room, which furnace room is separated by certain of said partition walls from the rooms forming the living quarters, such furnace room extending to an outside wall of the home, and a door in said outside wall which provides access to a furnace and other utility equipment housed in said furnace room for servicing or replacement, said furnace room being of substantial size so as to accommodate a furnace and a water heater with the water heater positioned adjacent an inside wall of said furnace room, said inside wall having an opening into a hallway with a removable closure member providing limited access to the space for said water heater for servicing or replacement thereof, and said furnace room having fire insulating material on the interior of the partition walls which enclose the same.

3. A mobile home as set forth in claim 2 and a top portion of said furnace room being constructed so as to constitute a cold air return duct having an opening into an adjoining room which constitutes a portion of the living quarters with a covering grille and an air filter member set in said opening.

4. A mobile home as set forth in claim 2 and said inside Wall of said furnace room having a recess which is of sufiicient size to accommodate the water heater, and a pan-like support beneath said water heater space having a drain extending through the floor of the home.

5. A mobile home as set forth in claim 2 and said inside Wall of said furnace room having a recess which is of sufficient size to accommodate the water heater, said inside wall having an opening providing access to the water heater for'repair and replacement, and a removable closure panel for said opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,330 8/1962 Willson 296-23 PHILIP GOODMAN, Primary Examiner 

